The Chef's EP Night Review

[Chef]

I was lucky enough to attend the Team Member Advance SCREAMING event last night, and here are just some of my initial thoughts. Keep in mind that this was a technical rehearsal and things can change. I have full faith that even the moments that I was less-than-impressed by will be better by opening night.

All-in-All of the Six Houses and Six Scare zones we saw, I would rank them as follows:

1. Winter's Night

2. Nightingales: Blood Prey

3. Nevermore: The Madness of Poe

4. The In-Between

5. The Forsaken

6. H.R. Bloodengutz presents: Holidays of Horror

1. Acid Assault

2. 7

3. Nightmaze

4. Grown Evil

5. Canyon of Dark Souls

6. Your Luck Has Run Out

That Scare Zone list absolutely PAINS me to say, and I truly hope that list changes soon, because I was very unimpressed with the Scare Zones this year, and I normally am a BIG scare zone fan.

First Impressions: The entrance video absolutely pales in comparison to last year’s. I thought last year’s was epic and really set the tone, but all it really is are the House/Zone names and then a brief moment with Lady Luck that we’ve already seen from the commercials. A Little Disappointed. When we first entered, none of the Scare Zones were open, even though we were a little late, so we didn’t get to see any until much later in the evening.

The Forsaken: The First house of the night was one of my most anticipated. The Façade was lacking compared to, For Example Silver Screams, and I started out a little disappointed in the first few rooms. About Halfway through the house though, they really took it up a notch. Some AMAZING effects and some things that I don’t think have been done in an HHN house before, so don’t let this one lull you into complacency. Just wait for the second half.

The In-Between: I was cautiously optimistic for this house. I’ve never been a fan of 3-D houses they’ve always been rather gimmicky. That being said, I think this will probably be a favorite of the public. There was CONSTANT buzz about this being the “best house” all night. And while I don’t agree with that, this is exactly what a 3-D house should be, and it was very good. Repeat viewings are required as I’m not even sure exactly what went down in some of those rooms. Make sure you have your glasses on for the first room, I have no idea how they did what they did because things look radically different with and without the glasses. Once you step through the portal into the In-Between, I was not impressed with the initial few rooms, thinking this was going to be a let-down, and then it was like a bomb went off! Each room was radically different and completely disorienting! You really have to see this house to believe it, and while the scares weren’t necessarily there, it really is a visual trip like nothing I’ve ever seen before. Definitely the best 3-D house I’ve ever experienced!

Nevermore: The Madness of Poe: I had no real expectations for this house. Of Course I’ve read the Raven, and am generally familiar with his other works, this was the sleeper hit for me. I had no expectations and I came out having really enjoyed it. I’m sure if you are more familiar with his works than me, it must be even more enjoyable. Really solid scares and set designs, especially for a tent. This one almost felt like a soundstage quality house! Really enjoyed this one, I feel like it could become an HHN classic.

Acid Assault: I had no real expectations for this one, it seemed like a generic New York Scare zone similar to Apocalypse, but I was pleasantly surprised. First of all I just love the Baby Stroller theme, and the projections look wonderful! The library one blew me away, and the others looked truly real from far away. Mostly generic character designs except for a few, but they really had great energy, and took advantage of the distraction of the projections. I’m a 6’ 03” fairly large male, so characters rarely target me, but they targeted me here as I was admiring the projections and it was VERY effective.

Nightmaze: I was pleasantly surprised by this zone, it’s exactly what you would think it would be. Scares are not entirely there, but it’s very disorienting. I could see this one getting better.

Grown Evil: This was my most anticipated Scare zone and it was… A HUGE LET-DOWN. The Design was beautiful, the soundtrack creepy, and the costumes creative…but there was nothing happening. The characters, and I honestly don’t blame them, seem like they weren’t sure who their characters were yet. They were all sort of walking around thinking “I’m not sure what a giant bat person would do.” At least that’s what it appeared to me. I still have high expectations for this one, and others seem to have enjoyed it, so I REALLY HOPE I just got an off-moment, and that I have a better of impression of it tomorrow.

Canyon of Dark Souls: Reading the other reviews I have heard nothing but positives about this one. And I’m here to provide the counter point. I thought the costumes were cheesy-looking, clunky, and it looked like they were hard to move in. The zone is very claustrophobic, which would normally be a good thing, but it’s a fairly high traffic area, so it made walking through it a gigantic clusterf**k, which made it even more difficult for the scareacters. I can’t see this one improving, but it’s certainly not the characters fault. I hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Your Luck has Run out: Is a joke.

SPOILER ALERT!

As we were exiting the park, we ran across some of Lady Luck’s minions, with Spade-shaped Axes. Outside the Universal Studios Store, similar to Bloody Mary’s mirror Minions in 2008. They were VERY into their characters, and did a great job with absolutely nothing to work with but each other. Great job guys!

Now it seems to me what they should have done was put Lady Luck’s Scarezone here! She’s all about Choices right? And here you can either choose to go down Hollywood Boulevard or toward Production Central. Throw in some Lady Lucks both pretty and deformed, Her minions, Roulette wheels and playing cards and you would have a memorable Icon Scare zone. This seems like a real missed opportunity.

END SPOILERS

7: The Last Scare zone we saw as we were walking out for the night. I was pleasantly surprised. It seemed an odd location, and I feel like they could have used more scenery to play with, but the street characters were wonderful, great energy, and costumes. I had low expectations for this scare zone and was pleasantly surprised.

Nightengales: Blood Prey: Whoever is designing these war houses is a genius. I said it about HAVOC: The Dogs of War, and I’m going to say it about Nightengales, this could be the next great Franchise House. The Dirt effects are great, the Nightengales are wonderfully terrifying, the set design and ambiance is top notch, and the scare are REALLY there. A+ Awesome from both a design and an acting standpoint. I hope the Nightengales stick around for years to come!

H.R. Bloodengutz presents: Holidays of Horror: The queue video for me was the best part. As far as the dark humor houses go, I think I’m over it. I absolutely loved Leave it to Cleaver, I thought Zombiegeddon was AWFUL, and this one lies somewhere in between. It wasn’t bad, and I could see it improving, but this was probably our longest line for a house that simply wasn’t great. Intriguing idea, and I will have to see it again to really take in all the different rooms, but so far, it’s not a stand-out. Which is sad because as I was watching the queue video I was thinking that Bloodengutz could become another original character to host a dark-humor house for a few years.

Winter’s Night: The Haunting of Hawthorn Cemetery: This could be the sleeper hit of the year. Winter’s Night takes my top spot of the night. The Façade is absolutely stunningly beautiful. The sets continue to be stunning all the way through, the cold effects are both refreshing and goosebump-inducing. The lantern motif is wonderful, the scares were there, the sets were the most spectacular live sets I’ve ever seen anywhere, this house was simply amazing. It’s radically different from any Horror Nights house I’ve ever seen though, it’s very slow and creeping, I might almost call it melodic, so I don’t know if the public will “get it” the way that I did, but I thought this may have been one of the most spectacular Horror Nights houses ever.

Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to see The Thing, Saws ‘n Steam, or Either of the shows, so hopefully we’ll get to do that tomorrow night. I look forward to seeing how things have changed, and hearing everyone else’s opinions of the event.

Edited September 23, 2011 by Chef

[Creeper06]

Thanks for sharing!!!! I won't be able to see the event until 10/27 so I'm living vicariously until then. Great news about Winter's Night! It's easily my most anticipated! I am not a fan of 3D houses myself but everything I'm hearing sounds like they pulled it off with The In Between. I cannot wait!!!

[LV-426]

As we were exiting the park, we ran across some of Lady Luck’s minions, with Spade-shaped Axes. Outside the Universal Studios Store, similar to Bloody Mary’s mirror Minions in 2008. They were VERY into their characters, and did a great job with absolutely nothing to work with but each other. Great job guys!

Now it seems to me what they should have done was put Lady Luck’s Scarezone here! She’s all about Choices right? And here you can either choose to go down Hollywood Boulevard or toward Production Central. Throw in some Lady Lucks both pretty and deformed, Her minions, Roulette wheels and playing cards and you would have a memorable Icon Scare zone. This seems like a real missed opportunity.

well see I don't understand why something so simple like your idea was not done, that makes a lot of sense, I have not seen anything yet but, this sounds really good actually,

[Chef]

Thank you I appreciate it, I used to have a hand in designing a much smaller Halloween event, (nothing anywhere close to HHN) But I love stuff like this, and it really seemed like a missed opportunity.

[Hack2112]

^ The only reason I can think of not having any theming there is because of the Despicable Me construction going on in that area. It could majorly clog things up, even if it is technically in front of it.

Well, that and using all of their budget elsewhere...

[LV-426]

seems like the budget went into all the effects used? am i wrong? is that what you were hinting?

[Chef]

Listen, I don't want to come off as negative here. Of the Six Houses we did, The only one I didn't like was Bloodengutz, And I think a lot of people probably will like it. I've heard great things about the Thing, and I've heard good things about Saws as well, so I think the lineup of houses this year is great, and that's what it's all about.

As far as the Zones go, we will just have to see tonight!

[kimlovesfl]

Thank you so much for what you said about Winter's Night. Our house IS truly beautiful, and I have always been a fan of the "creepy" houses, so I fit right in. I am very pleased to hear all the great reviews about my house.

[Chef]

You guys deserve it! It may be one of my favorite Houses ever! What room are you in?

[Chef]

Sorry for the double post, but I just wanted to Add that I was able to go through the THING, on opening night (thought still not Saws n' steam, Grrrr) And Thought it was great! The animatronics I thought were kind of cheesy (except for the last one) But the human actors were amazing, the costumes were so freaky, and the sets were great. I really got freaked out in this house a few times. Excellent Job!

The goal was to try to see Bill and Ted, but since the first show was cancelled, the others were packed and we missed out opportunity. We did go through the other two soundstage houses again, which just confirmed my love for all three of them. Winter's Night is still amazingly beautiful, and I got the best scare I ever have gotten at the event, when I was distracted looking at the detail of the miniature graveyard scene with the miniature coach in the background. (Love the body crawling through the snow as well). Same thing with Nightingales, I'm not sure how it happened, but somehow this AMAZING house has gotten even better since EP, I feel like there were more shooting soldiers (which helps to sell it and they had great energy) I feel like the Nightingales screams were louder, and they are pretty darn freaky. There were definitely even more scares than I noticed on EP going on last night! Excellent Job to all three soundstage houses!